Vengeance
by JoT11698
Summary: Game developer Nico Bradley logs into newly-released VRMMORPG Blade Vale Online to test the Amusphere II, the latest virtual reality device. The device is designed to be safe, but thousands of players are suddenly trapped in the game at risk of real death. Determined to escape and uncover the truth, Bradley finds himself locked in conflict with a dangerous player killer.
1. Exposition

September 19th, 2027

"This is amazing, huh?"

I didn't think it would be possible, but the Amusphere II had actually managed to top its predecessor's incredible level of immersion. The visuals, the audio, and, of course, the sense of touch, seemed to all be perfectly refined. For once, the virtual world was indistinguishable from the real one. I breathed in deeply through my nose, taking in the smell of the landscape around me. Off to my left, the smell of warm bread wafted outward through the chimney of the bakery. There was a sweet scent of flowers as well.

I felt like I could sit there forever and just take everything in. It was strange, really; flowers, grass…these are all things that we have plenty of in the real world, yet, for some reason, those scents and sights in a virtual environment just seemed to be so much more enticing. I gazed up at the sky, an azure expanse dotted with lazily floating clouds. All around me, people chatted and laughed alongside their friends. This was truly a paradise. I'd been playing this game for a month now, but it just never seemed to really sink in.

"Damn," I groaned, "if I didn't have to worry about keeping the boss off my ass, I might just stay here forever." I forced myself to my feet. This world was a gorgeous place, but I hadn't come here to sit around and enjoy the scenery. I'd come to investigate the game itself: the beautiful and long-awaited Blade Vale Online, the first VRMMORPG to be released on the brand-new Amusphere II.

Ezra, my friend and party member, just laughed at me. "You must really be passionate about games, huh? I mean, this isn't _that_ impressive. Not to me, anyway. That might just be because I'm not familiar with just how much work goes into all this stuff." Ezra brushed the grass and leaves off his robe. With a flick of his finger, he opened the menu and pulled up the quest journal. "We've still got to take down that field boss, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, stretching myself out. "We've avoided it for too long. I just don't feel like dying to that stupid thing and losing my _precious_ XP." I opened the character window. Only 3,700 more experience points to level 25. Taking down the giant wolf boss wouldn't be easy, but the XP and loot we'd obtain through killing it made the prospect irresistible. Dying to it, however, would mean the same death penalties as usual: the loss of two thirds of the experience points you'd accumulated that level, as well as a small sum of gold. The thought of in-game death on my mind, I couldn't help but be reminded of the terrifying Sword Art Online incident. A game where virtual death meant real death made the hefty death penalties of Blade Vale look like nothing.

Ever since that infamous game released in 2022, very few VRMMOs had actually received mainstream attention due to the stigma surrounding the genre and its potential dangers. In fact, that stigma is the reason the Amusphere line of products came to exist in the first place. Designed with safety as its first and foremost priority, the Amusphere and its successor tried to cash in on the fears of consumers who wanted a virtual reality experience but feared the possibility of another SAO-like death game. The sensory information sent to the brain by the original Amusphere was said to have paled in comparison to the experience created by the original NerveGear. After the first few tens of thousands of the NerveGear units shipped and the SAO incident began, however, they were recalled and outlawed. I never thought that a product so focused on the safety of the user like the Amusphere would be able to create a perfect virtual reality experience. My experience with the Amusphere II over the past month had proven me wrong.

You see, online games are both my passion _and_ career. I work (or worked, anyway) for a San Francisco-based game development studio called Event Horizon. In recent months, we've been looking to expand into the realm of virtual reality. For the past month or so, I was to continuously log into Blade Vale Online and report the state of the game's activity and community, as well as study the game's mechanics as potential inspiration for a title of our own. That day, September 19th, marked the 27th day of my investigation.

For now, it was time to get moving. This was the mountain village of Aurus, high in the foothills of the northern mountains. From here, a glance southward would reveal almost the entirety of the continent's southern portion in all its glory: bustling cities, rolling hills, sprawling plains, lush forests, and craggy peaks. That would come later, though. Quests and the like would have me staying in this town for a while. I certainly wasn't complaining. Aurus was a paradise tucked within the peaks and slopes of the mountains, not unlike the legends of Shambhala and Shangri-La.

The boss we were hunting was the Dire Wolf Lord, a giant wolf who took up residence at the top of a hill in a clearing near the middle of the nearby woods. Local hunters had been having some serious trouble with the wolf, as its presence meant an increased presence of standard dire wolves as well. Taking it down would kill the boss permanently: in Blade Vale, the persistent world meant that a dead field boss would never return to life. This function of the game, like many others, was controlled by the Cardinal system originally developed by Japanese game developer and criminal genius Kayaba Akihiko. The system operates independently to manage and control almost every aspect of games that have integrated it. It was perhaps the most important part of the World Seed package developed by Kayaba and released to the public in the months after the SAO incident ended. In the world of Blade Vale Online, the system could endlessly generate new bosses and quests for players, as well as modify the game world to respond to the results of certain quests or player interactions.

Ezra and I reached the forest clearing after about twenty minutes. Before us stood the wolf's hill, a truly fearsome sight. Surrounded by twisted, rotting trees and piles of bones, the hill rose to a large, flattened area; clearly where the fight was intended to take place. At the other side of the raised area was the entrance to a dark cave. Anyone could guess what would happen once someone stepped onto the hill. We were stupid enough to try it. It was why we'd come, after all.

"Alright, Cyril," Ezra said to me, "this is it. Let's give it our best, shot." I nodded, and together we began the ascent to the top of the hill. It wasn't a very long walk. By my estimation, the top of the hill was an increase of no more than fifty feet in elevation. However, in that short time, the change in the landscape was drastic. The forest of coniferous trees and thick brush gave way to a much more desolate biome. Aside from the rough grass, there was nothing living here. Dead trees dotted the edges of the hill. And there, directly in front of us, perhaps two hundred feet away, was the giant den that no doubt housed the Dire Wolf Lord.

"So…do we just wait for it to come out?" I asked. Nothing seemed to be happening. Of course, I knew better than to let my guard down. A player who isn't ready to respond defensively at a moment's notice is, for all intents and purposes, a dead player. For a few moments, the air remained calm. Then, all at once, the battle began.

A loud roar and a gust of air signaled the boss's approach. In less than a second, the massive Dire Wolf Lord's form appeared from its hollow, charging directly at us. The beast had to have been at least two and a half meters tall, and far longer. As it continued its rapid approach, I took note of the size of its claws and fangs, natural weapons that could mercilessly destroy flesh, bone, and the steel of armor and shields. Being the sword and shield user of our duo, it would be my job to tank, or absorb and defend against the boss's attacks so that others could deal damage more effectively. In this case, there was only one damage dealer: Ezra.

With quick reflexes, I drew my weapons, preparing my shield arm for the impact of the first attack. The claws of the massive wolf struck like an oncoming train, knocking me backwards and breaking my defensive stance. The damage to my avatar, however, was minimal. As long as I could continue blocking these attacks, we'd be able to succeed.

I ran back in, swiping at the wolf's front legs to draw its aggression away from Ezra, whose barrage of spells was beginning. As I prepared to block another swipe, a storm of tiny icicles struck the boss's head and shoulder, momentarily stunning it and creating a window for me to perform an arcing upward slash at its face. This instance of damage forced the boss to stumble backwards, giving me an opportunity to attack a few more times before being forced to take up my defensive posture once more.

In the first few seconds, our performance had been impeccable, but the difficulty in defeating this foe wouldn't lie solely in our execution. The fight would be long. So long that we risked running out of stamina and mana before being able to reduce the boss's HP to zero. If that were to happen, we'd be completely defenseless. So the question was not whether or not we'd be able to defeat the boss, but whether or not we'd be able to defeat it before running out of resources.

Already, I began to fear for the worst. Our attacks barely seemed to scratch the Dire Wolf Lord's four HP gauges. I kept up my performance, deftly deflecting blows from both the wolf's fangs and claws. However, the effectiveness of my blocks was already beginning to fade as my stamina bar dipped below halfway to emptiness. Each attempt to defend against the boss's hits was draining more and more of my health and knocking me back further. We were given a short reprieve as the boss backed away momentarily to prepare a powerful attack.

"Block!" Ezra called out. We'd been fighting for almost five minutes, and we were making almost no progress at all. Desperate to finally make some headway, Ezra began to channel his most powerful spell: Inferno. As the wolf struck downward in a vertical line, I intercepted claws, holding him at bay temporarily. The attack was taking its toll, however. My health was draining quickly from the force being applied to me.

With one powerful shove from my shield arm, I was able to force the monstrous wolf backwards. Stumbling to regain its balance, it let out a deafening howl that seemed to shake the whole forest. "Almost ready over there?" I asked in desperation. We weren't going to be able to hold out. My HP was already below 50%. Ezra wasn't even halfway done casting the spell. As the Dire Wolf Lord regained its balance, I braced myself for the next attack, raising my shield high. To my surprise, however, it began to charge the other direction: towards Ezra.

"Watch out!" I shouted, but Ezra was totally helpless and couldn't move while channeling. His robe wouldn't do him any good against the wolf's attacks, and his lack of VIT meant that his health pool wasn't very high to begin with; a glass cannon in the truest sense. I sprung forward, futilely trying to get between the boss and its target, but the wolf, of course, vastly outsped me. Ezra's eyes were wide with shock as the first blow struck him, the claws slashing him, literally, into pieces.

Understanding the hopelessness of the fight, I immediately fled, sheathing my weapons and dashing through the woods as fast as I could. "I'm sorry," I called back. "I'll meet you back in town!" Behind me, the sound of Ezra's avatar bursting into particles of light was an unmistakable confirmation of our failure. His loss would be far greater than an XP penalty, however.

* * *

><p>"Where the hell could he have he run off to," I moaned. At the Altar of Resurrection in Aurus, Ezra was nowhere to be found. "He <em>knew<em> I'd be coming back for him…why did he leave?" I leaned against one of the altar's stone pillars. "He must be pretty mad to go running off like that." My stamina was low, so I decided to open my inventory and check for food. I still had a few bread rolls left over from my visit to the bakery earlier. I equipped one and began to eat, the nutritious effects of the food slowly restoring my health and stamina. As the warm taste of the bread filled my mouth, I decided to sit down on the grass, leaning against the altar.

Ezra wasn't the type to get mad, especially not over something as trivial as dying to a powerful boss. Subconsciously, I suspected that something was wrong. I ignored the thoughts, however, and continued to eat my impromptu meal. It was noon in the game now, the sun directly overhead. This high in the mountains, though, it never got very warm. A constant light breeze kept the temperature in Aurus ideal. I was just thankful the in-game time wasn't based off of real time; in the real world, it was about 10:00 PM. The game was purposely designed this way, I'm told. In-game days last a full 24 hours, but the time is inverted from that of the real world, meaning that players logging in at night, the busiest time of day for the servers, would be greeted by a shining sun and warm temperatures. I laughed at the thought of the poor people who only had a chance to play in the morning or afternoon and would never get to experience an afternoon in Aurus.

As I shoved the last bit of my lunch into my mouth, I looked up, noticing a young girl pacing around in front of the altar. Confused, I watched her for a moment before speaking up. "Hey," I said, hopping up and onto my feet. "Looking for something? Or someone?" The girl dashed over to me, eyes wide with fear. _What could she be scared about?_

"Please," she said, grabbing me by the shoulders, "you've got to help me! I think there's something wrong!"

I stepped backwards, pulling her hands off my shoulders. "Alright, alright," I replied. "Slow down and tell me what happened. What's got you so worked up?" By the look in her eyes, I could tell it was serious.

"My…my friend and I…" she stammered. "We were…out in the field, hunting monsters for a quest. We're only level 5, you see. We wandered too far north, and a bear attacked us. It managed to defeat her and…well…"

"That's alright," I said reassuringly. "If your friend's avatar was killed in battle, they'll respawn back here." At this point, her head was down, facing the grass. Her long hair obscured her face.

"I know that. But…see, it's been half an hour now. I was getting worried, so I tried to log out to call her and make sure everything was alright. When I tried to log out of the game, I…I…" The girl's head turned upward suddenly, startling me. "I couldn't. I think something is really wrong here…" She grabbed me by the shoulders again.

I looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean you couldn't log out?" I asked, by this point pretty frightened myself. I swiped my finger, bringing up the menu. I scrolled to the bottom and clicked on the System tab of the drop down list. Mysteriously, where the button to log out of the game should have been, there was an empty space. Was this some kind of sick joke? That shouldn't have been possible. And yet, looking at that menu, it was undeniable. Somehow, our ability to log out of the game had been disabled. "You're kidding…the button's gone!" My eyes locked with the young girl's. We were in the same situation now.

Just then, I was struck by a jolt of terror. I hurriedly opened my friends list. At the top, a banner displayed the status of my friends: 7 online, 16 offline. I scrolled downward through the menu, looking frantically for that certain name. At last, I found it and my worst fears were confirmed.

**Ezra, Level 29 | Offline (Last Online: Less Than a Minute Ago)**

Of course, this figure didn't add up, seeing as Ezra's death to the field boss had occurred nearly twenty minutes prior. Of course, I was too deep in shock to realize this. To me, it seemed that there were only two options. Either Ezra had logged out or his character had been deleted. And, seeing as we couldn't log out of the game, the first choice didn't seem too likely. Just then, I had a sudden realization. Why, in such a heavily populated area, had no one resurrected at the altar in the ten or so minutes I'd been waiting nearby? The only explanation would be that they had all suffered the same fate as Ezra and the young girl's friend. I couldn't understand how any of this was even possible. The Amusphere used much weaker signals than the NerveGear, so there's no way the headset would be able to kill someone. It still didn't add up, though. If the device couldn't kill, and we were unable to log out, what could have happened to the players who died and didn't come back?

"That's impossible," I shouted, my hands shaking uncontrollably. "That's not possible! How the hell…how could any of this even happen!? There's no way…there's no way we're stuck here!" I rubbed my forehead with my hands, trying desperately to calm myself down. I couldn't. The gravity of the situation, the possibility of being trapped here and at risk of real death...this couldn't have been real. It had to have been some kind of nightmare. We couldn't be trapped here. Hell, it shouldn't have even been possible. But there was no doubt that I was wide awake and that this was reality. We really _were_ trapped.

I started running back to town, my feet on autopilot. I had to let as many people as possible know about what was going on. It was just like the incident 5 years ago in Japan: a death game. A virtual world that had transcended the line between reality and fantasy by introducing the penalty of real death. Seemingly impossible, but indisputably real. I needed to get back and warn as many people as possible. I wasn't going to let anyone else die. The thought of Ezra's last sight being me running from him in his moment of need came into my head, and I nearly collapsed to the ground, my legs weak and quivering from guilt. But I was stronger than that. My guilt wasn't going to stop me. If I couldn't make it back in time to stop at least one person from going into the fields, I'd never be able to live with myself. To be honest, I wasn't convinced that I'd be able to anyway.


	2. Clarity

September 19th, 2027

"There's no way this is real! It can't be!"

"Damn it…I've got work in the morning! Let me out of this thing!"

"Isn't there some kind of force quit?"

"Where are the GMs!?"

It seemed that I wasn't the first person to notice that something had gone wrong with the system. The town was in a panic. Terrified players were running everywhere, trying to find their friends. Others were crying, unable to grasp the enormity of the situation. How long, I wondered, had this been going on? Ezra and I had been in the field for quite a while in our attempt to hunt the field boss. Somehow, on my way to the Altar of Resurrection north of the town, I'd missed the commotion. How many people could have died so far? I had no idea how many people would have been logged into the game at a peak hour like this, but I knew it couldn't be a small number. Tens or hundreds of thousands? Now it seemed that all of their lives were at risk.

I wandered through the buzzing crowd, heading for the town square. The first step to helping everyone would be calming them down. At that point, I couldn't even fathom the possibility that my friend and so many others could have been dead. I kept calm, reminding myself that none of this could have been possible. And yet, the effects of the game seemed to be very real.

The square was, as expected, packed with panicked players. However, one voice stood out above them all. Standing on a rock, slightly elevated from the rest of the crowd, was a man in a white robe with golden trim. I'd recognize that outfit anywhere: he was a GM. My initial reaction was one of relief. However, I quickly realized that something must have been very wrong. A GM would have had the authority to forcibly log out every player. And yet, we were still trapped here. I pushed my way through the crowd, my desire for the truth and my instinct driving me forward.

"Now, now," the GM said, his voice rising above the cacophony of crying and shouting echoing from the mob around him, "we'll have this resolved as soon as possible! There's absolutely no reason to worry! I'm sure that, as we speak, our server operators are working non-stop to isolate and fix the problem." I moved closer, entering the giant mass of players crowded around the game master.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," the GM continued, "I'm going to try to contact the administrators to see if I can expedite the process." The white-robed moderator hopped off his rock perch and began to walk east, up the hilly path to the farmland on the outskirts of town. He paid no attention to his surroundings as he moved, focused instead on the menu in front him. He seemed to be indiscriminately flicking through windows and drop down lists, as if completely lost.

I needed to talk to him. It was clear that he was hiding something. I skirted around the town square, lightly pushing people out of my way to reach the eastern side of the plaza. Finally free of the crowd, I jogged towards the GM, who was still totally unaware of his environment.

"Hey! Over here!" I called out.

The game master glanced at me over his shoulder. "Look, I already told you guys everything I know. You've just got to hang tight until the server operators get around to fixing this."

I shook my head. "That's not the truth and you know it," I retorted. "Tell me. You have the power to kick players from the server. So why haven't you used it?"

He stopped dead in his tracks, slowly turning to face me. "So, I guess you figured it out then, huh?" He laughed out of what seemed to be nervousness. "I think you already know the answer to this question. The reason why I haven't started forcibly logging out players is that I can't. Not anymore, at least." He glanced around, as if to make sure no one was listening. "Look, he continued, "I think we should start from the beginning. The name's Zrinko. As you can see, I'm a GM for this game. Or at least I was."

I'd suspected this initially, but I had hoped it wasn't true. Now my suspicions were being proven correct. "You…were?" I asked, feigning confusion.

"That's right," he said, nodding his head. "Do you know what tipped me off, at least initially, to the fact that something was wrong with the system? About an hour ago, I was trying to access the GM console to teleport myself to a different town. When I tried to access the console, though, the system rejected me because my clearance was insufficient. In other words, my game master privileges had been revoked."

I nodded, realizing that we were both thinking the same thing. "So," I replied, "what you mean to say is…"

"That one of the higher-ups at the company planned this whole thing? Because if so, then you'd be absolutely right. There are only two people who have the ability to revoke privileges like that: Richards, the company president, and the lead server operator." Zrinko closed the menu with a wave of his finger.

"So you think it was him?" I asked. "The president of the company?"

Zrinko laughed. "Of course not. That miserly old bastard doesn't care about anything but lining his own pockets. He'd never do something like this. Do you know what a PR nightmare this whole thing is going to be? There's still a stigma surrounding the VRMMO genre because of all the crap that happened in Japan with these games. Now, if something similar happens in America, could you imagine the public outcry? So no, I _seriously_ doubt that it could have been him."

"So you think it was the server op then?" I looked over my shoulder at the crowd in the square. By now it was beginning to disperse as people were heading their own separate directions.

"It couldn't have been," Zrinko said. "He was logged in when this thing started. I haven't been able to contact him thus far, but I can at least assure you that there's no way that he could do something like this using the limited console available to him within the game client itself. Then, there's the fact that none of this should even be possible in the first place because of the hardware limitations. Also, what motivation would someone like that have to do something as evil as this? The guy's got a wife at home. I'm sure he wouldn't trap himself in a video game. Would he?"

"I wouldn't put it out of the question," I answered. "Don't you remember the first VRMMORPG? The most notorious of all? The creator of the game, Kayaba, trapped himself inside along with his 10,000 prisoners. No one knows what happened on that server, but somehow the guy ended up dead after the whole thing was over. Think about it. The guy was a technological pioneer and a genius. He practically created the Full Dive system on his own. He was rich and married. What reason would _he_ have to lock himself in virtual reality for two years, possibly at risk of his own death?"

Zrinko shrugged. "I don't know. This is all just too crazy to believe. It doesn't add up at all. There's no one that I can pin as the culprit, and a real death inflicted with an Amusphere isn't possible. Some kind of system circumvention is the only thing I can think of. Maybe some way of removing the limit on how much power the headset can output?" He shook his head. "On second thought, that's impossible. The factor limiting the output of the Amusphere isn't some artificial barrier like that. If it were, it'd have been taken advantage of a long time ago."

He was right. Something like that could easily be hacked into and disabled. "How could the headset be killing people then?" I asked. "Maybe it's not frying the brain but instead sending some kind of signal that shuts down bodily functions?"

"That's not possible," Zrinko asserted. "The Amusphere can only send sensory information to the brain. Scientists haven't come anywhere close to mapping the portions of the brain that control things like heart rate and breathing. At least, I don't think…"

There was a definite hint of doubt in his voice. But even I couldn't believe in the possibility of my suggestion. The only remaining option was that the device didn't actually kill the user at all. The only way to test it, however, would be to face death and find out for myself. Besides, if that was the case, what would stop people from having the headsets removed from their heads?

"Why don't we stop at a tavern or something?" I asked. This body of mine was virtual, but my exhaustion was not. "We can discuss this over drinks."

"There's nothing left to discuss," Zrinko snapped. "We're royally screwed and no amount of 'discussing' it will change anything. I'm heading out to learn as much as I can about the nature of this death game." As Zrinko walked past me, I considered stopping him, but he was right: it would be futile to sit around. I wasn't going to stop him from doing whatever he could to help us. After all, if anyone could solve this mystery and free us all, it would be him. As the game master walked off into the countryside, he once again began to browse his game menu.

I turned and began my return to town, but a sudden notification caught me off guard. "A…friend request?" I said, only halfway out loud. I tapped the flashing button, opening a small window which read:

**Zrinko (Level 47) has added you to their friends list.**

● **Accept ● Decline**

As I tapped the left button and accepted the request, I turned to glance over my shoulder, but the game master was far out of sight by then. _It's up to you,_ I thought. _You're the only one who can save us now._ Then I resumed my journey back to town.

* * *

><p>The crowd in the Aurus tavern was unusually mature. Presumably this was because the younger players were still in states of disbelief and had not calmed down enough yet to consider having a rest. By this point, I hadn't slept in nearly two days. My main concern was getting something to drink and finding a place to sleep. Surviving and escaping this death game would come later.<p>

I took a seat at the counter, where the female NPC barkeep was scrubbing the countertop with a rag. "One ale please," I announced. The NPC responded immediately, putting the dirty rag away with unnatural speed and holding out a hand to collect my payment.

"30 gold, sir!" the woman announced cheerfully. A window appeared to confirm my payment, and I accepted. After a slight delay, she began to pour my drink, sliding it across the counter to me a few moments later.

VR had come a long way in the past few years, but AI for non-playable characters really hadn't seen much improvement at all. NPCs still used the same basic system of identifying player speech from a large database of phrases then outputting the designated response. Word of innovations in bottom-up artificial intelligence had reached industry insiders, such as myself, but it was unclear when this technology would be available for developers to utilize. Low-quality NPC AI was just another one of VRMMO players' constant reminders that the world around them was nothing but a simulation.

The tavern was incredibly quiet. What conversation _did_ occur consisted only of serious topics communicated between close friends or party members, primarily full-time employees wondering if they'd be freed from the game in time to attend work in the morning.

Oddly, I wasn't concerned about such things. There was an unshakable feeling of unreality to everything that was going on, almost as if the whole situation was a dream. I almost felt convinced that if I went to sleep, I'd wake up in my own home on my own bed. Of course, that couldn't be further from the truth, and I knew that. The reality of my condition, no, everyone's condition, just hadn't sunken in yet. I couldn't yet accept the fact that Ezra, my good friend, could really be dead because of our venture into the woods. And, most of all, I couldn't accept that my own death could be imminent.

It's strange; in reality, death is all around us and can strike anyone at any time. And yet, when we go about our daily lives, we rarely stop to consider that each passing moment may be our very last. This game of death and the real world…in that sense, what was the difference between them? I finished my ale, placing the mug back onto the counter.

"Will that be all for today, sir?" the NPC barkeep asked.

"No," I answered, "I'd like to rent a room as well."

A few minutes later, I was unequipping my metal-plated leather armor and returning it to my item storage. In a game like this, items stored in a player's inventory would not encumber the holder. This, of course, made carrying heavy loads significantly easier. For now, I would remove my heavy equipment for comfort's sake. I can't imagine that sleeping in heavy armor would be very good for the spine.

After some quick inventory management, I relaxed on the warm sheets. The feeling of the soft fabric against my avatar's skin was indistinguishable from reality. I considered just how far technology had come in the past few decades. Within half a lifetime, we'd gone from 8-bit graphics to fully immersive virtual environments created with data injected directly into the brain. It was almost incomprehensible to me. At the age of 29, I'd been playing and programming games for nearly my whole life. And yet, the feedback of my avatar's interaction with this world was so far beyond anything I'd ever experienced that even I couldn't understand how such a thing could even be possible.

I closed my eyes and began to drift off to sleep; the first of many nights to come in this new world.


	3. The Masked Ranger

October 2nd, 2027

"Alright everyone, you know why we're here!" The commander's voice rose high above the murmuring of the crowd. Here, at the courtyard of the combat school in Aurus, just over twenty players had gathered for a meeting. Standing before the crowd was Radis, commander and leader of the Libertine guild. "We're here today because we have no choice but to fight for our freedom from this virtual prison!"

The group of warriors seated before him seemed unamused, including myself. _Does he have to be so dramatic?_ I thought. I really wasn't in any position to complain, though. Thus far, his confidence and assertive leadership had aided in the rapid growth of his guild, a group of warriors with the charitable goal of fighting to clear the death game. Never mind the fact that we didn't even know if there _was_ a way to clear the game…

I was one of the few players in attendance who wasn't part of the Libertine forces. The guild's members were easily recognizable by their uniform: iron plate armor with the guild's blue crest painted on the left pauldron. I didn't know for sure how many members the guild had, but the crowd of them at this meeting had to have been around a third of them. Among them were a few others who had showed up to aid in the mission. A female mage in a brown robe and hat, a cleric in a suit of leather armor, and…the robed figure at the rear of the crowd who caught my eye. Seemingly faceless, the man leaned against the fence that enclosed the plaza of dirt and weeds. A wooden longbow was slung over his shoulder.

I looked back towards Radis, who apparently had continued his speech while I was distracted. "Our reconnaissance unit wasn't able to make it very far into the new dungeon because of the difficulty of the spawns, so you'll be going in blind. We don't have map data for the dungeon and have little information regarding what threats we may encounter within. All of you are here because you're the best of the best and can handle a challenge like this. That's not to say it won't be dangerous, however."

The new dungeon of which he spoke was a subterranean labyrinth that had been discovered on the outskirts of Aurus in the nearby foothills. As it had never been found prior to the start of the death game, many suspected that its appearance was a clue to lead the players toward escape. Being among the top players living in the area, I felt obligated to help Radis and the Libertines with their mission.

The tens of thousands of players trapped in the virtual world of Blade Vale were now onto their 13th day of imprisonment. In that short time, I'd managed to level up my character eleven times, reaching level 37 and adopting the Longsword Mastery skill as my primary combat technique. Previously, I'd used a shield in my off hand, but low level shields simply weren't durable or large enough to provide adequate protection for the user. I preferred the added mobility of a one-handed combat style. Besides, I wasn't a tank anyway and, in this party, there was no need for me to adapt to said style. There were plenty of shield users among the Libertines' ranks who could do the job for me.

Over the next few minutes, Radis outlined the basic strategy that we would adopt while infiltrating the dungeon: shield users would form a vanguard at the front of the raid group, while other melee attackers would gather behind them. Ranged attackers and bowmen would make up the sides, picking off enemies before they could reach the vanguard. The dungeon's layout, we were told, was one comprised primarily of winding rock tunnels with large, open chambers dotting the labyrinthine maze. After the briefing was finished, the meeting was adjourned and everyone headed back to the center of town to rest before our delve into the mysterious dungeon.

At the tavern, I discussed longsword parrying and counter-attacking techniques with a few of the other members of the raid group's middle guard. With over an hour to kill, we made the most of it. Of course, the whole time, I couldn't help but notice the figure standing in the darkened corner on the opposite side of the tavern: the robed bowman from before. He stood motionless, not even appearing to glance around on occasion. A statue in human form.

When the time came to depart the tavern, I considered approaching the man, but decided against it. If he wanted to speak, he would have. Besides, with an appearance like his, who was to say he wasn't actually dangerous? I had to wonder what the reasoning was for concealing his appearance so thoroughly. _Who is he_, I asked myself, _and why is he here?_

The walk to the dungeon entrance was long, crossing the village's farmland and following a winding path through the woods. Along the way, I made conversation with some of the other members of the party in an attempt to uncover the robed man's identity. Not a single one of them was familiar with him. Even Radis, who had invited him to join in a similar manner as he had done for me, had never seen his face.

"That's right," I recall the commander telling me. "I've never seen him without that black robe. He never shows his face. But…if you're looking for a name, his is Aidan."

Aidan…so he used his real name for his avatar? It wasn't a technique that many adopted. After all, one of the many appeals of a VRMMO was that one could assume an entirely new identity in the virtual world. Of course, this wasn't the primary reason that so few people used their first names for their character's names. In online games, once a character name is taken, it can never be used again. The initial wave of players who create characters on a game's launch day will inevitably use up every first name imaginable. Any players trying to use their real name after that would have to settle for a variant. In other words, it was certain to me that this person had been playing since the game's launch nearly two months ago and was higher leveled and more experienced than me. But the singular question still remained. Who was he hiding from?

After a long while, our trek through the woods and hills concluded and we stood before the entrance to the stone labyrinth. The opening leading into the dungeon was fairly nondescript: a large crack in the side of a mountain cliff with just enough room for two people to squeeze through at once. A curious adventurer would have, no doubt, stopped to investigate it had they stumbled upon it, but I doubted that anyone could have guessed the dungeon's scope and difficulty from the appearance of its entrance.

Following Radis's example, we filed through one by one. The tunnel on the other side of the opening wasn't much wider, large enough to fit three, maybe four players at once. Though most dungeons contained some form of natural or artificial light, that didn't seem to be the case for this one. Were it not for our torches, the inside of the tunnel would have been completely dark. I glanced around, noting the smooth texture of the rock comprising the tunnel's walls. This wasn't a natural cave system. It had been excavated by someone or something.

Once the whole party was within the tunnel, Radis swiped his finger to bring up the menu, opening his map. "Now," he began, "for the beginning of our descent we'll be able to follow the map data we received from the reconnaissance unit. However, once we reach a certain point, we'll be completely on our own. God only knows what could lie in wait for us in the deepest recesses of these tunnels and chambers." Once again, we began to march onwards.

The tunnel descended continuously with a rather gentle slope. It was a long time before we encountered any branching in the path. At the first fork, we headed left to avoid a chamber of goblin miners that had been discovered by the scouts. They weren't particularly difficult enemies, but our goal was to encounter as little resistance as possible as we worked to clear the dungeon. Any mana or recovery items expended on healing players damaged in a pointless fight would simply reduce our capacity to survive in later portions of the dungeon. Besides, experience points were shared equally among all party members, so the potential XP gain from low level mobs such as those was minimal at best.

As we descended further through the winding tunnels, which now began to branch far more frequently, we soon reached the entrance to a massive cavern. This was one of the chambers that the recon team had described. We were stopped by Radis, who announced to the party that we were now entering the dark zone: the point past which we had no map data. _Whatever's in this cave_, I thought, _was enough to force the scouts to turn back._ Of course, I had no doubt that we would be fine. With twenty four of us and a strong defensive formation, I knew that no regular monsters would be able to harm us.

For hours, we descended through tunnels and caverns, battling the occasional group of weak mobs. Our melee damage dealers in the middle guard, including me, had barely gotten to do anything at all, as any enemies who got close were taken out rapidly by the tanks and ranged attackers. It seemed as though we'd done far too much preparation for such an easy dungeon run. It almost made me question the skill level of the scouting team who'd been driven out of the area by the "powerful" monsters.

We'd been underground so long by the time we encountered our first real shock that everyone seemed to be running on auto-pilot. The cavern chamber we'd just entered, from outside, appeared to be no different than any other. But, the moment the last members of the group had entered the room, we knew something was wrong. A loud slam behind us meant the one thing that many of us feared most: our escape route was cut off.

Suddenly, a rumbling sound, not unlike a rockslide, began to pierce the dead silence of the chamber. At first I feared that the cave was collapsing in on us, but "What the hell is that!?" I heard one of the vanguard members shout. I turned to face the source of the noise: the center of the room. There, faintly illuminated by torchlight, I could make out a massive figure rising from the ground. _Could it be?_ The rumbling, like the anxiety of the party, grew rapidly in magnitude.

Giant Quarry Golem. In that instant, as the room was suddenly illuminated and the deafening sound ceased, that was the name revealed to me as it flashed over the monstrosity's head. This was the boss, and we were locked in. The beast truly lived up to its title. To say it was giant would be an understatement. The humanoid mass of boulders, rocks, and gemstones must have been at least six meters tall. Though it was mouthless, the boss unleashed an ear-shattering roar that shook the room.

In that moment, I knew the meaning of terror. This giant beast which was probably capable of reducing my HP to zero in a single strike could actually kill me. The penalty for losing this fight would be far more severe than XP loss. If our party wiped, every single one of us would die both in this world and the real one.

As was the case with most boss encounters, the room would be artificially illuminated once the battle began. This time was no different. However, my new perspective on the environment revealed to me a horrifying scene. There, at the center of the room, was the majority of the vanguard. Among them, their commander: the greatsword-wielding Radis. Their shields and reflexes would do them no good against the truck-sized arms of the boss. Whoever the golem chose for its first target would undoubtedly die.

I wanted to cry out and charge in heroically, but I was no hero. I couldn't bring myself to draw my sword, much less enter the fray of a hopeless battle. I could only watch as the monstrous golem's first downward strike crushed and instantly killed three of the vanguard members. Just out of range of the attack, Radis was flung backwards by the shockwave, his sword flying out of his hand and spinning across the smooth stone of the chamber far out of his reach.

All around me, there was chaos and panic. But I was almost unaware of it. The screams and cries of the doomed party members only graced my ears. I was too deeply engulfed in my own despair and my sudden realization of the gravity of the situation. This game of death had reached its thirteenth day, but never before now had I fully come to terms with the reality of the possibility that my own life would end at the hands of a monster. I forced myself to backpedal, but my pace was slow. Nausea was beginning to overwhelm me, and I feared I would vomit or collapse if I tried to run. My right hand gripped the hilt of the sword slung over my back, but I simply lacked the strength to pull it from its scabbard.

Once again, I could only stare onward as another player met his end. Unable to move out of the way, he could only scream as the golem's foot slammed down on top of him and he burst into polygons of light. That expression of utter fear and confusion on his face only brought one thing to mind. Remembering it, my greatest regret, I fell to my knees. I'd only ever seen one another person look at me that way: my first and only friend in this world of swords and monsters. The one I'd abandoned in the woods. The illustrious mage who met his doom at the claws and fangs of a wolf.

I'd tried to forget about what I'd done on that day, nearly two weeks ago. Now, the truth was coming back to me. Ezra's last sight was his friend abandoning him to die. His last thoughts were contempt for me and my cowardice. It was my fault that he was dead. If I'd stayed by his side, I could have protected him. It was my greed that had forced me to run. I cared less about the life of my friend than about the progress of my XP gauge. The death penalty he suffered was far worse than the one I fled to prevent suffering myself. He would never get to see his friends or family again. Because of me, a coward in an online game, he would never be able to return home. I wanted to vomit, but that was something this virtual body of mine could not do.

I opened my eyes to see that the fight had begun in full. The sounds of magical explosions and metal clashing against stone rang out across the room. A few brave souls had deigned to approach the golem and attack it head-on, but this wasn't a wise choice. The boss claimed its fifth victim as its horizontal swipe picked off one of the axe users hacking at its leg. Another life permanently ended for nothing but the system administrator's own morbid pleasure. To my left, someone was pounding on the sealed door of the chamber, frivolously trying to escape. But there was no point. I knew we were all going to die here. Why even fight back?

After witnessing the death of yet another, the handful of middle guard members who'd tried to approach and attack the boss began to retreat. Now there was only one target remaining in range of the golem: Radis. He too recognized the urgency of his situation, scrambling to his feet and beginning to run, only to be swept into the air and flung across the room by a backhand swing from the golem's arm. The Libertines cried out in terror as their leader's limp form sailed through the air, landing with a thud and skidding across the floor. When he finally slowed to a stop, Radis was lying a mere few feet from me.

The players on the other side of the room were cut off by the boss, but everyone nearby rushed over to ensure the safety of the commander. It was too late, though. From my location, I could see that his HP was rapidly draining as an after-effect of the damage he sustained from the boss.

I forced myself to my feet. In that moment of lucidity, I understood that despairing over the death of one would do nothing to help me save the lives of the nearly twenty others who were trapped here with me. I approached Radis, standing just behind the Libertines who had bent down on their knees to be closer to their leader in his final moments. Even this close to death, his face still wore his signature confident smile.

"Sorry I had to drag you into this," Radis said softly, his head turning slowly to face me. His HP bar, still draining at a steady pace, turned blood red as it fell to 25%.

"Don't be ridiculous," I asserted. "I came here because I wanted to help. This isn't just your guild's fight. This is a battle for everyone trapped in this world."

A quiet laugh pushed its way out of the commander's lips. "Well…I don't have much time left...so I guess I'll have to make this quick. Cyril, I want you to remember. Remember that you were brave enough to come here, to this hell, of your own volition. Even if you and everyone else here die today, don't forget that. Never forget that, in this moment, you had the strength to go forth into the unknown to save the lives of thousands of people you've never met. And, if some day, you find that your bravery has left you, just remember your selflessness here, today. Remember our sacrifice." At least 90% of Radis's HP was gone by this point.

A heavy armor-wearing knight kneeling next to his leader began to cry out hysterically, begging for a health potion or healing spell to save the dying warrior's life. But there would be no such thing this time. The damage that was draining the life of the Libertines' leader was far stronger than the recovery of any potion available to a low level group such as ours, and our cleric was cut off from us by the golem. In a burst of light, Radis disappeared. The death toll had reached six.

There was no time to mourn the commander's passing, and everyone knew it. We needed to take action. As if on cue, the small crowd that had surrounded Radis's last location began to rise to their feet. I reached for the sword slung over my back, prepared to finally enter the battle, but my hand struck something very different. A shoulder – belonging to none other than the masked ranger.

Startled, I spun around quickly, coming face to face with the man. Or, at least face to hood. Even at this range of a mere few feet, I couldn't see his face at all. Though he paused for a moment, presumably confused at my reaction, he continued to move past me, gently pushing me out of the way with his hand as he moved. At the front of the group, he stopped and turned back towards us. Then, for the first time, he spoke.

"We can't afford to sit around," he said in a commanding tone. His voice rang with a confident potency unmatched even by the late Radis's. "If we do, then the commander's sacrifice will truly have been in vain." His head slowly swept across the crowd, evaluating us. "The only way to escape here with our lives is to defeat the boss. There are still eighteen of us, including our partners currently engaged in combat. With our combined strength, victory is not yet out of reach."

He reached a hand behind his back, grasping his longbow. By now, everyone was listening attentively. "The plan is simple. Shield users, you'll need to charge and draw the golem away from the other half of the party. If all of you can block the hits together, you'll stand a chance against the boss for a short while. The middle guard will be tasked with leading the pinned down players to safety and helping them recover. Everyone with ranged attack will focus on dealing as much damage as possible. Now move! Every moment wasted could be another casualty!"

A man with a persuasive voice like that…why would he stay so quiet all the time? Come to think of it, until now he really hadn't contributed much of anything to our effort at all. I couldn't recall any point at which he'd actually engaged the mobs in combat. What had he been waiting for? I wondered if it had anything to do with his unwillingness to reveal his identity.

There was an air of hesitation amongst us. Of course, no one would want to willingly go to what may be the site of their own death. There was no choice though, and the masked ranger was right. Every moment wasted may just be another loss we'd have to mourn. As the vanguard members in the front of the group locked eyes with one another, it was clear that they understood this as well. Their charge to glory began.

I wasn't far behind them, along with the rest of the middle guard. The most dangerous portion of our task was now: passing the boss and reaching the wounded without taking damage. Our plan relied on the vanguard taking the aggression first, letting us slip past, but there was always the slim chance that something could go wrong. Boss algorithms were never quite as simple as those of trash mobs. I recalled my battle with the Dire Wolf Lord, where the boss had spontaneously switched targets even though, by all normal rules, he should have continued to attack me. My greatest fear was meeting a similar fate.

The shield users, totaling four, reached the boss, who wasted no time in attacking. I watched in horrified anticipation as the massive stone arm flew downward towards the four swords and shields stacked up against one another. I could only imagine how terrified they must have been, willingly putting themselves in such great danger to secure our victory. My own cowardice embarrassed me.

Then, there was the impact. That deafening sound of stone on metal must have signaled the utter failure of our tanks, but a glance towards the boss revealed that the opposite was true. Struggling with every ounce of their strength, the four shield users were holding the golem's limb at bay. In that instant, all hope returned to me. The fight would not be easy, but victory was still well within our grasp. It _was_ possible to deflect the boss's attacks.

Leading the middle guard, I dashed past the golem's restrained right arm, entering the crowd of players who had been blocked in on the opposite side of the room. There were about eight of them, though three had sustained great damage and wouldn't be able to help in the fight. They'd be our primary focus. After all, our orders were to escort the wounded to safety to prevent any more unnecessary deaths.

After witnessing the incredible display of prowess by the vanguard, it seemed that hope had also returned to these players as well. They prepared to enter the battle once again, brandishing their weapons. As for me, my duties would prevent me from fighting for a short while. The nearest wounded player to me was our spellcaster, a young girl in a dark cloth robe. Her wide-brimmed hat, which I'd noticed earlier at the strategy meeting, was either lost or destroyed, letting her long hair flow freely over the stone floor of the cave.

"Come on," I said, lifting her up and slinging her over my shoulder, "you're going to be fine." In front of me and to my left, others were following suit, helping to carry the two other severely wounded party members away from the fight. As we hauled the limp forms across the room, I stared over my shoulder at the vanguard, whose backup was beginning to arrive. Longsword and axe wielders from both our group and the other were entering the battle, slashing at the golem's legs.

Before then, I hadn't noticed the golem's HP bar – or bars. Of the five, only the first was now beginning to turn red as it neared emptiness. However, at the current pace, I knew that our progress would be much faster. Besides, with our cleric back in action and healing our tanks, their ability to defend and create space for the rest of us would be greatly improved.

By now, my feet had carried me almost all the way to the opposite side of the chamber. The two other middle guard members who had carried the other two wounded were not far behind me. We laid the three players down on the stone, searching our inventories for whatever recovery items we may have had. I had brought some potions, but deep wounds and broken bones couldn't be healed by normal methods. These three would need to return to town to get themselves back to full health.

"You're going to be fine," I assured the mage lying on the floor below me. I handed her a potion, which she promptly began to drink. But, as I expected, the effects were minimal. A red symbol beneath her HP gauge indicated at least one broken limb. Advanced magic could've been used, but our only healer was busy tending to the vanguard, actively engaged in combat. We'd have to leave the wounded here and hope that the boss didn't decide to target them. There wasn't any time to waste. After doing all we could, I nodded to my two partners and we rose to our feet once more, preparing to enter the fight.

To my right, the masked archer Aidan was furiously swiping through his menu. _Is he looking for something?_ I asked myself. "Come on, man! Get in the fight!" I shouted. He paid me no attention. With a quick shrug, I started running, once again, into the fray.

The vanguard was still blocking the boss's attacks in perfect synchronization, with a fifth shield user now joining them from the pinned down group that we'd freed. I moved faster now, closing in on the boss with lightning speed. My hand went over my shoulder, grasping the hilt of my blade and tearing it loose from its sheath. I had plenty of lost time to make up for. Rapidly approaching the golem's huge form, I leapt into the air, my blade high above my head, in preparation for a devastating downward strike.

Ordinarily, boss monsters are immune to any form of stun or crowd control. Each boss, however, has its own damage threshold that, when exceeded, will allow hit-stun to occur. The golem's momentary staggering effect induced by my strike was proof that I'd broken its threshold. My sword had managed to pierce the rocky exterior of the boss's skin, carving a long crevice in its back as I slid downwards. By the time I reached the ground, the stun from my attack was wearing off.

The golem shifted slightly, as if it was preparing to turn towards me, but it quickly reverted its change in direction to face the tanks in front of it once more. A few moments later, my backup, the two who'd helped me rescue the wounded, arrived and joined me in slashing and hacking at the massive legs of the boss.

"Split up and surround it!" I called out. "The more of us gather in one spot, the more likely he is to attack us and not the tanks!" However, our confusion regarding what happened next would mean that we'd never get to carry out this plan.

There was a sharp sound of metal on rock high above our heads, forcing our gazes upwards. There, near the golem's head, what looked like a grappling hook of some kind had struck and lodged itself. Instantly, I recognized this technique. It was a mid-level archery skill: Chain Shot. There was only one person who could have fired it.

Carried on the momentum of the sailing chain hook, Aidan soared above us and landed with his feet firmly planted on the giant monster's shoulder. Then, grabbing the chain with his hand, he began to circle the golem's head and arms in an incredible display of acrobatic skill, entangling the boss and restricting its movement. Then, loading the metal projectile on the other end of the chain back into his bow, he fired directly downward, lodging the other end of the line into the stone. Completely constricted, there was only one direction for the massive stone body to fall: downward.

The room was shaken with earthquake-like force as the twenty foot stone monstrosity struck the ground unabated. Everyone stared in awe. The indomitable foe that, mere minutes ago, had been slaughtering our party was now completely incapacitated by one man's ingenuity and agility. There was no time for applause, however. I feared that it was only a matter of time before the golem would be able to break free.

"Everyone," Aidan cried out, recovering from his landing, "attack! Focus everything on the boss while he's trapped!"

The ensuing whirlwind of blades and magic was unmatched by anything I'd previously seen. Fifteen fighters were now focusing everything on destroying one foe. Though the boss's first HP bar of five had taken over five minutes to deplete, the next was gone in no more than five seconds. The assault continued, erasing another health bar. Then another. And then, it was over.

An anti-climactic conclusion, to say the least, but heroism wasn't our concern. Survival was the most important thing, and we'd just secured it for those of us who were left. In a flash of light, the Giant Quarry Golem disappeared, leaving behind nothing but glowing fragments and polygons which drifted away on a non-existent breeze.

A system message wasted no time in informing me of my increase to Level 38 and the stat gains that it would entail. But how many lives were lost in the pursuit of that XP? The party window showed only eighteen members, a decrease of six from our initial ranks. And among the dead, Radis. The Libertines would have to go on without their commander. There were no congratulations. No celebration. Only the silence of a party that would be returning to town with six members fewer than when it departed. Six people who would never again take a breath in this world or the real one. Six people whose families, no doubt, would be stricken with despair at their loss.

For me, there would be no such mourners. I'd survived the day. I thought briefly about my own family, but quickly dismissed the thoughts from my mind. The only way I was going to survive this hell would be to disconnect myself from reality as much as possible. To focus only on what was in front of me and needed to be done.

In another moment, I wondered how our bodies were being kept alive in the real world. We'd been here for nearly two weeks, but so far no one, at least that I knew of, had died of natural causes. We'd been given no information at all about the sudden change in the game's rules. Would disconnection cause death? If so, were we being kept alive in our own homes rather than hospitals? There was also the fact that death inflicted by the Amusphere should have been impossible anyway, but that was a different matter entirely. Even still, nothing seemed to add up with regards to how this "death game" was even functioning. Was Zrinko any closer to figuring this all out and sending us home?

I looked up, scanning the room for the masked archer. There, alone, by the newly opened exit to the dungeon, he was standing, looking upon the room of crestfallen warriors. I had half a mind to follow him, but, before I could even move my feet, he'd disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel ahead. To save over a dozen lives then disappear without a trace…I couldn't even imagine the humility it took. That was when I knew that I needed to find him. I had to know who or what such a powerful warrior was hiding from. It was an answer that I'd come to regret seeking.


	4. Betrayal at Dusk

October 3rd, 2027

As I sat there, on that mountain cliff, I knew I'd never be the same person again. One's own fear of death has a way of revealing their true nature. For me, it showed me what I'd known all along: I was a coward. I lacked the bravery to be the first one to enter the battlefield. Maybe that was why I was searching for the masked ranger, Aidan. Perhaps, subconsciously, I thought that I could learn his bravery and use it for my own.

Since the disastrous dungeon raid of the previous day, I hadn't even thought of sleeping. For the remainder of that night, I'd wandered the hilly plains and mountainous highlands outside of town, hoping that the further I distanced myself from the site of my failure the less its effects would hamper me. Even I knew this was impossible.

Now, the sun was rising over the peaks and hills of the northern lands. If I wanted to track Aidan, I knew I needed to get moving or he may leave town and be forever out of reach. The hike back to town wasn't nearly as long as I'd expected. The dungeon from yesterday had been mostly circular in its design, with the tunnels all wrapping around a central point and never straying too far from the entrance except in elevation. It was perhaps twenty minutes before I was once again greeted with the familiar sights, sounds, and smells of the town of Aurus.

There was a particular solemnity in the air, as if the world itself knew of our loss and grieved. It was a cloudy day, perhaps not unusual for a morning in October. But it was fitting. I wondered just how many people had lost their lives thus far, only two weeks into this game of death. I knew that the answer was more than I could bear to imagine. Still, we were no closer to finding the truth about this incident. I knew from my friends list that Zrinko was still alive, out there somewhere. I had no desire to send him a private message. I feared that the truth may be more painful than the unknown.

I made my way to the tavern, my usual resting place. Even this early in the morning, it was still heavily populated. The need for sleep in a virtual environment was significantly diminished because physical exhaustion was not a factor, but it was not completely unnecessary. A majority of the doors to the private rooms, which lined the western wall of the huge common room, were closed and locked, no doubt with players sleeping inside.

I sat myself down in a wooden chair near the room's central fire pit. Across from me, an NPC bard played his lute endlessly, repeating the same dozen songs ad infinitum. Though the warmth of the fire was soothing to my cold, damp skin, I couldn't help but remind myself that none of this was real. The music, the smell of warm food, the heat of the flames…these things were nothing but simulations – counterfeit versions of the senses that had been robbed from me when I was trapped in this digital prison. How much longer would we be stuck here to fight for our lives in a frivolous game of death?

Originally, my intentions had been to come to the tavern to seek out the whereabouts of Aidan, but it seemed now that answers had come to _me_ instead. I don't know how long I'd been sitting near that fire when the two men in black leather armor came crashing through the door to the tavern. I'd been drifting in and out of consciousness in my stupor, but the sudden appearance of those two shady characters forced me back to alertness. I, along with most everyone else in the room, simply stared at the pair.

The way they made their way across the room…it was clear that the two hadn't come with good intentions. They passed me, heading to the rear corner of the room where a young man in a cloth tunic sat alone at a table. For a brief moment, I glimpsed terror in his eyes. The taller of the pair, a scrawny man in leather armor with a cutlass sheathed at his side, said nothing as he violently grabbed his target's collar and pulled him upward.

"Where the hell is he!?" the brigand shouted in the face of his captive. The man grasped at his neck in an attempt to pull the criminal's hands off himself, but it was no use. "Don't play dumb with me," the armed intruder growled. We know you smuggled him out of Hearthshire! Where is he hiding?" Frustrated at his victim's lack of desire – or ability – to speak, the bandit forced him backwards into the wall. Such an attack might have hurt if the Amusphere was capable of replicating pain. Fortunately, attacks in this world would have no such effect.

Though the tavern's patrons had all diverted their attention to the scene, no one had moved a muscle. Sometimes, it was best to leave the affairs of other players between themselves. You never know when a dangerous player might attack a stranger who chooses to intervene in an altercation. In this case, it was no different. The room was silent, excepting the quiet music of the incessantly looping bard.

While the criminal players' victim brought himself back to his feet, recovering from the heavy blow, his two assailants drew their weapons: a long, razor-edged cutlass and a curved dagger, not unlike a karambit. The shorter, more muscular member of the duo with the knife moved closer to his target, passing me and joining his partner.

"How the hell," grunted the wounded man, "did you find me? Who told you bastards where we were going?"

"We've got more connections than you might think," the dagger-wielder laughed. "Now…let's take this outside. I don't want to make a scene in front of these fine people." The burly man gestured towards the room behind him. Then, aided by his partner, he began to drag the purported smuggler out of the tavern by his shoulders.

The moment the door slammed behind them, everything seemed to be back to normal. There were whispers, of course; people wanted to know just who the two intruders were. But, that aside, it was almost as though nothing had even happened. No one so much as shifted in their seats, save for those who resumed conversing quietly with their friends now that the disturbance had ended. Were they really so jaded? Since the beginning of the death game two weeks prior, I'd been operating solely out of Aurus. I _did_ spend the vast majority of my time in the fields and caves outside of the town, so I wasn't exactly in the loop in that regard. But, this made me wonder about the level of criminal activity in the game. Had things really reached such a point?

Well over a minute had passed before I made my decision: I needed to follow the two thugs and find out who they were and what they wanted…but more importantly, I needed to save their victim's life. I hurriedly opened my inventory, re-equipping my weapon and equipment: my Black Steel Longsword +1 and Brigadier's Armor set.

Everyone watching knew exactly where I was going as I made my way towards the exit, but none cared to follow. Even I knew that I was flinging myself willingly into death's vicinity by choosing this course. Yet, somehow, I didn't mind. The prior day's near failure and our massive losses against the boss of the damned dungeon seemed to have rapidly changed my view of life and death in this world. My life was worthless, for I had nothing to defend and nothing to fight for but myself. If I could save even one other at the cost of my own life…it would be a noble death.

Standing just outside the tavern, for me it was only a matter of following the sound of thrashing and shouting to find my targets. Within moments, I knew that the three had made their way to the alley behind the building, between it and the bakery. I began running without delay, turning the corner of the building and coming face to face with one of the two bandits. The other, who had been pre-occupied with restraining the captive, noticed me a moment later, turning to face me as well.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a vigilante," the taller, more vocal member of the duo said. He released his grip on his victim, instead reaching for the weapon at his waist which he'd evidently sheathed again upon leaving the tavern. "You wouldn't happen to know this man, would you?" he joked.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't give you emotional leverage over me like that." I smirked. "For all I care, you can go ahead and kill your hostage. I'm not here for him anyway." Of course, this wasn't entirely the truth, but to imply at all that I cared about the fate of their victim could be a dangerous proposition for him indeed.

It seemed my psychological manipulation was working. As if completely forgetting about the hostage, the tall sword-wielder moved closer to me, brandishing his blade. "Well then," he asked, "if you're not here to heroically swoop in and save this poor sap, just what the hell do you want?"

"Well, for one, I'd like to know who you people are," I replied, unsheathing my own sword.

The short knife-wielder leaned towards his partner. "You think we should tell him? What if he…uh, the boss…wants us to keep quiet?"

"Don't be an idiot," the tall one replied caustically. "Soon, everyone will know who we are. I don't see any harm in at least letting one overconfident kid know who we are before we cut him to pieces." His gaze returned to me. "So…you wanted to know who we are? My name's Mercury, officer of the Black Hand – the most fearsome and ruthless criminal guild of all!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Am I supposed to be scared? I've never heard of you before. That might just be a testament to how 'fearsome' you really are." My comments had Mercury seething with anger. I continued without giving him a chance to re-insert himself. "So, ruthless criminals, what exactly do you want with this poor sucker you've got here? Seems like you did well enough at scaring the hell out of him."

"Mercury," his partner chimed in, "I _really_ don't think we should spilling all this information to this guy…"

A quick slug to the shoulder shut him up immediately. "I don't need you to tell me how to run things, Silus. Who's in charge here? Or have you forgotten? Now…back to our visitor." Once again, his gaze returned to me. "You know, you might actually be able to help us. That is, if you're interested in lining your pockets…"

Whatever they were about to tell me could be incredibly valuable. I had no interest in negotiating with the slippery bastards, but I knew that I needed to play along to see just how much information they were willing to let slip. "Go on," I said, feigning curiosity, "I'm listening."

"Our hostage has just about outlived his usefulness to us," Mercury explained. "It seems he doesn't know quite as much about our target's whereabouts as we previously suspected. His name is Eru, and he was a well-known merchant and treasure hunter in the city of Hearthshire to the southwest of here. When we came to town looking for a certain individual who'd betrayed our ranks, Eru helped smuggle him out of the city and brought him here. I'm sure, of course, he charged a hefty fee for his services. After all, gold is the only thing snakes like him concern themselves with. Not that I could say I'm much different." Mercury chuckled at his own humor.

Silencing himself after a few seconds, he continued. "As I was saying, it seems the two broke their ties with one another after reaching Aurus. He has no idea where the target went and hasn't seen him in nearly a week. I'm sure he's telling the truth, of course. A coward like him would have fessed up immediately if he really did have what we were looking for. So, like I said before, I believe you may be able to help us. Have you ever met the player called Aidan?"

I froze in shock. Him of all people…and why? What could he have done to this criminal guild for them to hunt him across the continent? "No," I lied. "Never heard of him before. Is he famous on the server?" Suddenly, it all made sense. His reserved nature, his disguised identity…he was hiding from this guild, the Black Hand. Besides, with skills like his, I had no doubt that he really was a famous player anyway. Twice the reason to be a target of criminals.

"I wouldn't call him famous," Mercury laughed. "He pulled quite a nasty one on our guild, though. I'll agree with you on this one, Silus." He nudged his partner. "I don't think Rilaw would take kindly to us running our mouths about it." Silus let out a noticeable sigh of relief at this.

"So, you want me to help you track this guy then? What's in it for me?" I needed to keep the act up. Mercury was showing restraint, but I didn't think it would be hard to manipulate him into giving up a little more information.

"Coin, of course." From the backside of his belt, Mercury retrieved a filled coin pouch. "Fifty thousand sound alright to you? Find him for us, and it's all yours." The MMO gamer in me almost couldn't resist the offer. Fifty thousand gold was almost as much as I'd made in my entire six week career in Blade Vale. Chump change compared to the millions of gold regularly spent by masters of huge trade guilds and lords of city keeps, perhaps, but the fact remained: for a job like this one, that would be an incredible payout.

Of course, I had no intention of taking Mercury up on his offer. I only needed to keep him fooled. "That'll be more than enough," I smiled. "Can you give me some details on this guy? What does he look like?"

"If you happen to see him, you won't miss him, I'll tell you that much. He's got this unmistakable blonde hair that goes down to his back. He's an archer too, and a good one at that. Keep an eye out if you actually do manage to find him. He's no amateur fighter. If he knows something's up, he won't hesitate to incapacitate you and flee." At last, Mercury sheathed his long cutlass, letting his guard down.

His description of Aidan sounded about right. From what I'd seen of his skills in combat, he was incredibly talented; perhaps the best I'd ever seen. "That should be enough for me to go on," I assured Mercury. "I'll find him. Add me as a friend, by the way. Once I get a hold of this guy, I'll want to send you a private message so you can come retrieve him." Within moments, I'd accepted the criminal player's friend request. He was Level 40, only two levels above my own.

"Now, what are you going to do with Eru?" I asked. The man was clearly scared to death; he hadn't moved an inch in the time we'd been speaking.

"He can choke on piss for all I care. Now that we've got an extra set of eyes on the lookout, we don't need him anymore." Mercury tapped the cowering merchant on the shoulder, then pointed behind himself. Eru didn't hesitate to run as fast as he could, turning the corner and exiting the alleyway. "Now…you've got a job to do." Mercury's face was overtaken by a wicked smile.

Mercury signaled to Silus and the two departed without delay. There are no formalities in crime, I suppose. Now, left to my own devices, I needed to find Aidan and, at the very least, inform him of the impending danger. Clearly he knew that these Black Hand thugs were after him or he wouldn't go to such extensive lengths to conceal his identity. I doubted, however, that he knew just how close his enemies had come to tracking him down.

There was another possibility. What if Mercury and his guild were actually the ones I should've been siding with? I'd gone into the situation with the assumption that Aidan was the one in the right, never considering that the opposite may have been true. Just what did he do to the Black Hand? And why was Mercury so willing to bring me in on his efforts to track the enigmatic masked ranger?

I quickly disregarded any possibility that Aidan was my real enemy. He had, after all, volunteered to risk his own life in the fatal raid of the past day and singlehandedly saved our entire party from certain death. Now it was just a matter of contacting him. This would be an easy matter. I'd just need to add him to my friends list. Surely he'd remember my name.

Once the request had gone through, it was a matter of waiting for a response. I stared anxiously at my friends list for what felt like hours. In actuality, it wasn't even a minute before my request was accepted and Aidan, Level 49, appeared at the top of my list of added friends. Before I could even begin to type a private message, I received one of my own from none other than the man himself. Only one word: "What?"

I couldn't find the words to enter into the chat window floating in front of my avatar. How could I go about explaining something like this? I decided I would keep things concise. "Black Hand," I responded. "We need to meet."

It was a few minutes before I received a reply. Just as I'd guessed, he seemed to know exactly what I meant. We were to meet immediately at the clearing in the woods just southeast of town. It was a familiar location for me. It was, after all, where I'd lost my first and greatest friend in this world.

When I arrived, Aidan was already waiting for me, wearing his familiar cloak. I wasted no time in explaining the situation. It took only a minute or so to get him up to date with everything that had transpired. For a wanted man, he seemed oddly calm with the news that he'd been pursued to Aurus and that a criminal guild had placed a bounty on his head.

"They offered you 50k for me? Well, I guess we'll just have to go through with it then," Aidan said with a smirk.

"Are you crazy? You want to just turn yourself in?"

"Not exactly. Until now, I've been hiding because I feared that the force the guild would send to find for me would be something far beyond what I could handle. Now that I know that it's just two…" A confident smile stretched across his face. "This is my chance to get revenge. It's simple. You pretend to have captured me and I'll go with you to meet the two bastards who hired you. Then, once we're close enough, we take them out."

"Are you…talking about killing them?"

"No, of course not." Aidan shook his head. "Murder is more of their domain. We just need to rough them up a bit. Do you happen to remember the names of the two guild members you spoke with?"

"Yeah, they were Mercury and…uh…Silus, I believe."

Aidan laughed under his breath. "Then this will be easier than I thought. Those two…they're cowards of the greatest caliber."

"I want to know…what's your connection to the Black Hand? What did you do to them exactly? And why are they so intent on hunting you down?" I locked eyes with Aidan, who immediately tried to look away.

"I'll make you a deal. If we survive the day, I'll tell you everything. I'll tell you about my affiliation with the Black Hand. And, more importantly, I'll tell you why I tried to kill their leader."

By the time we made it back to the edge of town, the sun was low, giving the sky a fiery orange tint. The light breeze, though usually a constant presence in the mountain air, had died down, creating a deathly silence where no tree or leaf stirred. The streets and paths of the village were only sparsely populated. It was very clear: something bad was coming. Aidan, who'd had me tie his hands together with rope, walked off to my side. That look in his eyes…I couldn't tell if it was determination or anxiety. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

I'd already contacted Mercury to let him know that I'd secured his target. We were going to meet in the town square, a location I would have objected to but for my desire to keep negotiations with the criminal player to a minimum. It seemed that Mercury wanted to make the prisoner exchange as much of a spectacle as he possibly could. Or, maybe it was something else...

When we arrived at the plaza, Mercury and his partner were already waiting for us, albeit not so patiently. Initially trying to grab Aidan, he was stopped by my hand as I pushed him away. "Payment first," I said, making eye contact with the scoundrel.

"What," he laughed, "you thought I'd try to cheat you? The Black Hand's pockets are deep. I wouldn't dupe a sucker like you out of a few thousand gold." For a brief moment, his guard was lowered as he reached behind his back to retrieve the coin pouch. My eyes met Aidan's, and we both knew that it was time to strike.

I tugged the rope that was "restraining" Aidan's wrists, causing it to immediately come unfurled and fall to the ground. Aidan swiftly drew the hunting knife from his waist and twirled it around to grasp it in a reverse grip. With his left hand, he grabbed and twisted Mercury's wrist, spinning him around and holding him in place. Then, he raised the sharpened blade to his captive's neck.

"Don't move," Aidan grunted, struggling to hold Mercury in place. "You're just gonna make this harder than it needs to be."

Once again, that same wicked smile curved its way across Mercury's face. "You think I'm afraid of you, Aidan? I don't think you've learned anything since you left us!" As he spit out his last few syllables, Mercury dealt a quick strike behind himself with his elbow, temporarily stunning Aidan and breaking his grip. He spun around on his feet and turned to face us. Then, drawing his sword, he continued: "We knew you'd try to take advantage of the situation if you saw the two of us here alone. Do you really think Rilaw would only send the two of us to get you? Looks like all that time as a fugitive did a number on your foresight."

While the two faced off, I redirected my gaze to Silus, who had done the same. Like our partners, we each drew our weapons and prepared for combat. Silus seemed to lack the confidence of his ally, however. His own anxiety was spelled out clearly on his face. He quivered slightly as his tightened his grip on his dagger. _Just one foe with a short blade_, I thought. _This will be easy._

Aidan and Mercury's conversation continued off to my right. "I don't care how many of his dogs 'the boss' sends out here," said Aidan. "The fact that he either cares too little or is too scared to come out here and face me himself…that alone speaks volumes of his character. Now, how many of you poor bastards did he send to ambush me? Five? Ten?"

By now, a small crowd had amassed at the edges of the square to observe the scene. What must they have thought of what they were seeing? My thoughts were cut short by Mercury's maniacal laughter. "Your hubris is as enormous as ever, my friend. Why would you assume that Rilaw wouldn't come to finish you himself?"

"So he's here then?" Aidan tried to laugh to maintain his air of confidence, but I could tell that his disposition had changed in that moment. This leader of the Black Hand, Rilaw…was he really so dangerous that even someone like Aidan could fear him?

"He's been managing affairs in the south," Mercury said, "so he'll be a few minutes late for our little get-together. But he should be here any minute to catch up on lost time. In the meantime, thought, I'd like to get this show on the road. I've been waiting too long to chop off that ugly head of yours!"

Mercury charged into battle with a downward slash which was easily parried by Aidan, who retaliated with a heavy punch to his attacker's face. "Take out Silus!" Aidan shouted.

I rushed in, aiming my blade for his in an attempt to disarm him and end the fight immediately and non-fatally. For a man of such timid nature, however, his skill in combat certainly was not lacking. He easily dodged and maneuvered his way to my backside in an attempt to strike. Spinning quickly around, I turned to face my opponent once more. I couldn't help but notice the difference in demeanor between him and his partner. He lacked the expression of ruthless cruelty and determination that was so easily visible on Mercury's face. He was scared, either of dying or of what might happen to him if he failed his superiors.

I fought on the defensive, deflecting each incoming attack with deft precision. Not twenty feet away, Aidan had taken the opposite approach, forcing his opponent backwards and pressing the attack at every possible opportunity. This fight, it seemed, would be an easy victory.

I continued to parry and block each of Silus's strikes until, at last, the perfect opportunity revealed itself. Stumbling to my right from the force of my attack, his rear was vulnerable. I wound up for a powerful swing, but I immediately knew something was wrong. That look on the cowardly dagger-wielder's face…a smile?

All at once, everything came apart. My senses heightened, I picked up on something I hadn't before: a familiar sound in the distance. But, in that fraction of a second before I could even turn or swing my sword, the sound was no longer distant. Closer…closer…

_Hoof beats?_

I was struck with an attack the force of which I'd never before endured. Sailing through the air, turning indiscriminately, I still couldn't make out who dealt the blow. However, the speed of his approach, the strength of his blow, and that sound made one thing indisputably clear: whoever they were, the Black Hand's reinforcements had arrived on horseback.

Perhaps it was only my mind's distortion of time, but it felt as though an eternity had passed before I once again was on the ground. The force of my impact was great, but not as great as the attack that had sent me flying in the first place. My sword, which had escaped my grip during my brief flight, landed shortly after I did, skidding across the dirt of the town square before coming to a stop far, far away from me.

My HP bar, in those few moments, had gone from a bright green to a blood red. Nearly three fourths of my total health had been wiped out in one blow. Just how strong would a player have to be to inflict such a devastating attack? I struggled to roll myself over to finally see the identity of my assailant. Aidan, Mercury, and Silus had all ceased fighting and turned to face the new combatant as well.

There, at the edge of the plaza, a man in dark leather armor sat atop a massive, gray steed. Hanging from his right hand, a long, pointed blade – a thrusting sword, perhaps a rapier or estoc. The look in his eyes was one of vicious bloodlust. A dark figure atop a pale horse...it seemed Death himself had come for us.

I scrambled to my feet as quickly as possible out of fear that he would come for me once again, but it seemed he had no such intentions. Instead, he redirected his glare to the three men standing only a few paces from himself. Then, he spoke with a voice a voice that was part commanding and part horrifying.

"I'm disappointed," the mounted swordsman said. "I thought that by now the two of you would at least have been able to finish off one of these fools. But, then again, it doesn't matter now that I'm here to take care of this matter myself."

Mercury, trembling in fear, bowed before the man that I could only assume to be his leader. "I-I'm sorry, Rilaw, I didn't think we'd have to fight two of them…I-I thought-"

"Enough excuses, Mercury." Rilaw's piercing stare turned directly to face the terrified officer. "From this point forward, however, there are to be no more blunders. Silus will aid you in getting rid of our little rat. It shouldn't be any challenge for you two, seeing how much I've weakened him already. As for me…well, let's just say I've got a week's worth of lost time to make up for." The cruel smile adorning Rilaw's face made even the murderous glares of Mercury look innocent. For the leader of a criminal guild, he certainly played the part well.

As Mercury and Silus began to approach me, I backed towards my sword, which had flown nearly to the other side of the town square. Reaching my weapon at last, I raised it once more and my standoff with the two Black Hand members began. Circling around one another like raptors, each of us waited anxiously for the other side to make the first move. At last, and as expected, Mercury initiated the skirmish, rushing in with a horizontal strike that was easily dodged by my backstep.

In this fight, there was no room for error. Not only was I fighting two opponents, but my health was minimal at best. I hadn't been given time to make use of recovery items to heal the damage from Rilaw's devastating mounted strike. I briefly wondered what his level must have been before snapping back to reality and once again concentrating fully on defending myself from my two attackers.

I could hear Aidan shouting, but I didn't have even a moment to consider what he was saying. Instead, all my energy was focused on holding off the onslaught of slashes and thrusts coming towards me. I was constantly on the move, mostly avoiding attacks through nimble footwork but occasionally parrying with the blade of my sword. At this rate, I'd eventually become exhausted and succumb to my foes.

Suddenly, a chance to strike became clear. As Mercury and Silus once again rushed at me from the front, I began to dash towards them myself, dropping to the ground at the last second and performing a shoulder roll between their legs. Regaining my footing, I spun towards their backsides with my blade extended, dealing a powerful blow to their legs and sending both to the ground.

In my brief moment of respite, I glanced at Aidan and Rilaw, who were now charging directly at one another in a manner not unlike a joust - though only one combatant was mounted. As the two rapidly closed in on another, Aidan, bow drawn and ready to fire, leapt into the air with incredible agility, tilting his body to aim downwards at his foe. But Rilaw's reaction time was quick…far too quick for Aidan's attack. He tilted his body to the side and narrowly avoided the arrow, which flew past him and struck his horse instead. The last thing I witnessed before returning my attention to my own conflict was Rilaw and his steed collapsing in a pile.

Mercury had already recovered from my attack and was on the offensive once more, but it seemed that Silus wasn't quite in fighting condition yet. This was to my benefit; fighting off only a single target would be much easier than two at once. It was at times like these that I missed the sword and shield technique I'd adopted for much of my time playing this game, both before and after every other player and I had become trapped. I knew that a small, lower-level shield would have done nothing to help me in this fight, however. Against human opponents, the area of protection afforded by bucklers and other small shields simply wasn't sufficient. Improving speed and relying on dodging was a far more effective and reliable strategy.

This was the strategy I used against Mercury as we clashed once again. Taking full advantage of his decision to fight alone, I took control of the battle and began to strike at him relentlessly. Each time our swords clashed, I felt his grip weaken slightly. Deflecting my attacks was tiring him out, and soon my moment to end the battle once and for all would arrive.

Silus, finally having recovered from my attack, dashed towards me to enter the fray. It was too late for him to save his partner. At last, the moment I'd known was coming: Mercury's instant of vulnerability. His sloppy recovery had left his chest open, and I had every intention to take advantage of it. I had no explicit intentions of killing the man, but at that point I really didn't even care to consider whether or not my strike would be fatal. With as much force as I could muster, I thrust my sword through his thin layer of armor and into his abdomen.

The look on Mercury's face as the steel of my blade punctured his chest was pure shock. He staggered backwards, grasping at the sword protruding from his body in a desperate attempt to remove it. It was too late for that. Just as he briefly looked up towards me and we met eyes, he burst into light and disappeared. His life in both the virtual and real worlds had come to an end.

Kill or be killed. In a fight, that was all that mattered. There was no time to waste mourning the death of a man who no doubt who would have done the same to me given the chance. I didn't regret then and I don't regret now what I did to Mercury. But I'll never forget the look of pure terror on Silus's face as he stared at his partner's killer. His gaze of piercing contempt, like he thought I was a monster. But, having just murdered another man, you could say that's exactly what I was.

I knew immediately that Silus had no intention of continuing to fight. He was scared for his life, and rightly so. I made no effort to follow as he turned to run away from the fight. Maybe that was what he needed. Perhaps, after watching his partner meet his end, he'd give up on crime. Or maybe that was just a fantasy I'd conjured up to make myself feel less guilty about the evil I'd just committed.

_Could we really win this fight?_ I thought as I turned my attention to the other side of the square where Aidan and Rilaw were locked in combat. The two were like blurs, slashing, thrusting, and dodging faster than I'd ever seen.

In a brief moment of calmness during the fight, Rilaw noticed his fleeing grunt. "God damn it, Silus! Get back here and kill that snitching bastard!" It seemed Silus's fear of me paled in comparison with how much he feared his leader. Trembling with fear, he turned around and slowly moved once again towards the fight.

"Just put your weapon down," I called out. "I won't hurt you! Just don't attack!" He was clearly conflicted. On one hand, if he surrendered, Rilaw would surely kill him. On the other, if he attacked, I might end up doing the same. "I know you're scared! Just fight with us, and we can protect you from him!"

Rilaw was facing me now, his skirmish with Aidan temporarily concluded. It seemed Aidan had taken this opportunity to catch his breath. "You think you can turn my own men against me?" he shouted. "My men are loyal to the death. Now…Silus, kill that fool before I kill _both_ of you!"

For a long time, there was silence. We were all waiting anxiously for that conflicted criminal player's next move. To surrender or to attack…to live or to die…

"Don't be an idiot," Aidan panted from the sidelines. "I won't let you die…not if…you come with me…again…" Did Aidan know him? His words certainly would have implied it.

At last, the timid thief spoke. "I'm sick of bending over for people who don't give a crap about how anyone else feels. Rilaw...or should I say Garrett? Our partnership is at an end."

It took me a second to process what happened in the next moment. A blur, a cry of pain, a bright flash. Then, Rilaw was standing where Silus had once been, though the thief was nowhere to be found. With his incredible speed, the Black Hand's leader had mercilessly killed his subordinate perhaps before he could even register what had happened.

Aidan couldn't contain himself. He charged recklessly at Rilaw, his knife raised. It only took a simple flick of Rilaw's long blade to disarm him, sending his knife through the air to land in an indiscernible location. For Aidan, enraged as he was, this made no difference. He continued his attack with bare hands, punching and kicking relentlessly, screaming all the while.

"What the hell happened to you!?" Aidan screamed. Tears fell from his face, forming tiny puddles on the dirt of the town square. "You'd kill your friend like that? You heartless son of a bitch! **I'll kill you!**"

This reaction from the generally calm, collected Aidan was unprecedented. Blow after blow, he struck Rilaw without even bothering to avoid the tip of his foe's sword. In one moment, the point of Rilaw's blade caught Aidan's cloak, tearing it off and sending it floating through the air, carried by the wind. Underneath, a full head of long, golden hair shone in the light of the setting sun. It was then that I saw Aidan's face for the first time - the face of a bloodthirsty killer.

"You'll kill yourself at this rate!" I cried out, but rage, it seemed, had entirely consumed any rationality left in his mind. At last, what I feared most came to be: in a moment of vulnerability, Aidan was swept off his feet by a powerful kick from Rilaw. _If I don't do something_, I thought, _Rilaw's gonna kill him!_

As strong as Rilaw was, I was confident I could draw his attention for at least a few seconds to give Aidan time to retreat and attack from a distance with his spectacular archery skills. I dashed in without hesitation. "Aidan, switch with me!" I called, opening with a thrusting strike aimed at Rilaw's chestplate. Naturally, he avoided the attack, but this opening was all the time I needed to shove Aidan out of the way and force him to back up.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Aidan shouted. "This is my fight! Stay out of it!" He tried to move in once more, but I blocked him with my shoulder.

"I need you to use your bow! If you try to fight him at close range, you're just going to die!" Rilaw's surprise, by then, had died down a bit and he resumed his offensive. His attacks were faster than those of any other fighter I'd taken on, and I couldn't possibly deflect them all. He had not only a lighter weapon but a longer one as well. For every two attacks I parried, one would scratch or poke me. This damage would surely build up over time.

Though Aidan had finally listened to reason and retreated, I feared he wouldn't be fit to provide me with ranged support. As the first arrow flew past my head and struck Rilaw's shoulder, however, these fears were dismissed. Twirling around one another and constantly clashing swords, Rilaw and I continued to dance the dance of death. Aidan's subsequent shots didn't have nearly the success of his first; Rilaw's superhuman reflexes had adapted to this new style of combat.

Passive HP regeneration had healed me fairly significantly in the time since Rilaw's initial mounted strike on me and now, but even still I was beginning to drop dangerously low on health. My anxiety only built further as my health bar dropped below 50% and continued to decline from the sustained damage I was receiving. I knew I had no chance at this rate. With each block, my arms were growing more fatigued and my footwork was becoming sloppy. Eventually, Rilaw would-

_**CLANG!**_

I'd been disarmed. A quick swipe to the hilt of my sword had knocked it free from my grip, leaving me completely vulnerable. Instinctively, my eyes closed in preparation of what would happen next: the killing blow. The only thing I heard in those split seconds was my own heartbeat. Then, the familiar sound of metal piercing flesh.

* * *

><p>I won't be posting updates to this story on anymore, since it seems it's not getting much attention here. If you want to keep reading, search for Sword Art Online: Vengeance on Wattpad or use this link: story23209257-sword-art-online-vengeance


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